Machine fob cutting shingles



UNITED `STATES PATENT FFICE.

`AVERY KINNEY, OF HOMER, NEW YORK.

MACHINE FOR CUTTING SHINGLES.

Specication of Letters Patent No. 2,457, dated February 121842.

i and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exactdescription thereof.

In its general construction and manner of operation, my machineresembles some others that have been constructed for the cutting ofshingles. Two knives are attached to a sliding frame which works up anddown between fender posts, or vertical side timbers,

and said knives, being placed obliquely, so as to make a draw cut intheir descent. The bolt, or stuff, to be cut is to be prepared thereforby being steamed, or boiled, and is to be placed, and held, upon asuitable bench, or rest, in front of the cutting knives, said knivescutting the timber nearly lengthwise of the grain. i

In the foregoing particulars, I do not claim to have invented anythingnew, my principal improvement being in that part of the machine by whichthe bolts are held, and fed up to the cutting knife.

In the accompanyingdrawing, Figure l, is a side view of the machine, inperspective.

A, A, is one of the fender posts, or vertical side timbers, of theframe, within which the knife, or cut-ter frame, slides up and down,like a saw gate; Fig. Q, is the cutter-frame, carrying two knives, B,and B. A lever C, is attached to this frame for working it up and down.The bench, or rest, D, is to sustain the` bolt, said bench being rmlyaffixed to the frame-work, and supported by brackets E, E. The bolt isto be trimmed and prepared by holding it against the upper knife B,which knife operates against the upper bench F, on the front of themachine, while the knife B, operates against the lower bench D. The boltis held firmly by two dogs a, a, Fig. l, which are made to approachtoward, or recede from, each other by turning the handle a', whichoperates upon a pinion gearing into two racks, which are 4*hidden by thecover Gr, but are shown in Fig. 3, where b, is the pinion, and c, c, thetwo racks. The dogs, when made to grip the bolt, are held in place bythe ratchet wheel and pall, a, shown on the top of the cover G. Thepinion and racks carrying the dogs are contained within this cover, andboth rest upon the sliding` table I-I, which table is firmly attached ateach end to a sliding, or feed, arm I, by means of iron, T-formed piecesJ, which swivel on the arms I. These arms slide in between the cheekpieces K, K, attached to the fender posts A, A; in Fig. 4, the outermostof these cheek pieces has been emitted for the purpose of showing theinner, or. rack-formed, portion of one of the arms I, and itsappendages, there being another arm similarly formed and arranged on theopposite side of the machine.

The inner portion of each of the arms I, is formed into a double rack onits under side, one of which racks only is seen in Fig. 4, at I', butthey are both shown in Fig. 5, which is a view of the under side of oneof the bars, I. One of the sets of teeth in each of these bars is to beacted upon by a pallet on a revolving shaft, which causes each of thebars, alternately, to be drawn in so as to feed the shingle fto theknife; the other set of teeth on each arm are semi-circular, as shown atCZ, CZ, and are intended to render the distance of feed precisely thesame .in each movement. An iron tooth e, is affixed under each of theracks with semi-circular teeth, and fits into the spaces between them,and a spring f, bears on the upper side of the bar; and it will be seenthat this will regulate the feed, just as the shooting of the bolt isregulated in an ordinary trunk, or drawer, leek. The number of feedingteeth on the inner section of each rack is the same with the number ofsemi-circular, regulating teeth, and these are operated upon in thefollow ing manner.

L, Fig. G, is a shaft which crosses the back of the machine, and hasVits bearings in the outer cheek pieces K', K. There are two pallets, orteeth, g, g, near to each end of the shaft L, the two at one endstanding at right angles to the two` on the other, and these operate onthe inner, or feeding, teeth of the double rack; one of these pallets isseen at g, in Fig.` 4i. The shaft L, is made to revolve in the followingmanner. On said shaft there are four pins z, L, and at each rise of thecutter frame, a catch, working on a joint pin, and attached to the backof said cutter frame, is brought, as it rises, into .contact with one ofthe four pins, hi, z, and turn the shaft L, one fourth of a revolution.

Fig. 7, shows one of the sides of the cutter frame, and z', the jointedcatch which engages with the pins It, h, as it rises, and folds in as itdescends. Upon the shaft L, there is also a square collar at j', uponwhich a f spring is made to bear, and thus causes the shaft to stopcorrectly in place at each interval. It will be seen that by thisarrangement the bars I, I, will be alternately moved in to the distanceof the width of one semicircular rack tooth at every upward movement ofthe cutter frame, and that the bolt will consequently be fed up to theknife, or cutter, so as alternately to cut a head and point at each end.

When the shingles are being cut from a bolt, or block, the treadle M, isto be held down, and the spring j, then keeps the semicircular teeth ofthe bars I, in contact with the stationary tooth e; but when it isdesired to draw the sliding table H, out, for the purpose of putting ona new bolt to be cut into shingles, the treadle M, is allowed to rise,by an action which throws the bars I, out of gear with the stationaryteeth e. The table H, may then be drawn out by hand, and a new bolt, orblock, is placed between the dogs. The following is the manner offorming and arranging` the parts for this purpose. There are two springsk, 7c, which are so much stronger than the springs f, which bear uponthe bars I, I, that when leftfree to act they will raise said bars, andthrow them out of gear. A long staple j, y', is riveted to each of thesliding arms I, I, at their uppersides, and the rods Z Z when depressed,or forced down by the treadle, are so connected Vwith the sliding armsas to throw them into gear with the stationary teeth. The two rods Z, Z,are, at their upper ends, bent out at right angles, as represented at m,m, Fig. 8; and that bent part passes under the staples j, j; the outerends of the springs 7c, lo, are bent so as to bend around and clasp theparts m, tending to draw them up, and to keep them in contact with thestaples j, j, so as to lift the sliding arms I, by counteracting theforce of the springs The arms I, are held in gear by a spring catch, orlatch r, Fig. 4, of which there is one on each side, which catch on tothe upper side of the parts m, and hold the apparatus down, when thetreadle is depressed. These catches are liberated by the Contact of theouter ends of the long staples y', j, or by any suitable projectingpiece, when brought into Contact with them, which contact takes place atthe moment the bolt is exhausted, and the springs 7c, 7c, then throw thearms I, I, out of gear.

In cutting shingles with a machine of this description it is ofessential importance that the middle of the bolt should be opposite tothe middle of the machine; but in splitting a log which has beencrosscut, so as to form it into suitable lengths for bolts, .it willfrequently happen that the ends and sides of the bolts slit from it willnot be at right angles to each other, but will form a rhomboid; and ifsuch a bolt cannot be slid endwise upon the bench, or rest, whichsupports it, the butts and points of the shingles cut from it will beunequal in thickness. To obviate this difficulty, I make grooves, orslots, a, n, in the sliding table, H, into which are fitted pins, ortongues, on the underside of the cover G, by which it may be slid andguided to a sufficient distance lengthwise of the bolt. A screw shaft,the handle of which is seen at 0, passes through a nut on the under sideof G, and carries it back and forth at pleasure. As the cutting proceedswith a bolt that is rhomboidal, it may be moved by occasionally turningthe winch 0, so as to cause the middle of the part of the bolt to beout, and of the knife, to coincide with each other.

Having thus, fully described the manner in which I construct and use mymachine for cutting shingles, what I claim therein as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The manner in which I have combined and arranged the apparatus bywhich the bolt, or block, is fed up to the cutting knife; the saidcombination consisting of the arms I, I, with their double racks; theshaft L, with its pallets and other appendages, and the jointed catchz', on the back of the cutter frame.

2. I claim, secondly, the arrangement of the parts for throwingthe armsI, I, into, and out of, gear, by means of the treadle M, and the springsf, and 7c, operating upon the arm I, and the long staple j, j, combinedand acting as set forth.

And, lastly, I claim the combining of the cover G, carrying the dogs,withthe sliding table H, in such manner as to allow of the sliding ofthe bolt, or block, endwise, in the manner, and for the purpose,described.

AVERY KINNEY.

Witnesses:

L. CANFIELD, JOHN A. Goris.

